Interest rates rose on short-term Treasury bills rose to the highest levels in three years. The Treasury Department auctioned $21 billion in three-month bills at a discount rate of 1.950 percent. An additional $19 billion in six-month bills was auctioned at a discount rate of 2.140 percent.

The three-month rate was up from 1.855 percent last week and was the highest since three-month bills averaged 1.975 percent on Nov. 5, 2001. The six-month rate was up from 2.040 percent last week and was the highest since 2.160 percent on Oct. 15, 2001.

The Treasury said it plans the sale today of about $20 billion in four-week bills. The sale amount is unchanged from last week's auction.

Dow Jones / Associated Press

Wells Fargo loan data stolen

Potentially thousands of Wells Fargo & Co. mortgage and student-loan customers may be at risk for identity theft after four computers were stolen last month from a vendor that prints loan statements. The incident marks the third time in about a year that computers have been stolen containing personal information of Wells Fargo customers. The bank said that it's not aware of any misuse in either of the two previous situations.

In the most recent instance, computers taken from the Atlanta office of Regulus Integrated Solutions contained customer names, addresses, social security numbers and account numbers. No passwords or personal-identification numbers were in the database.

The bank wouldn't say how many people may be affected, but it has about 4.9 million mortgage customers and serves about 890,000 customers through its education-finance division.

Dow Jones

Delta pilots vote on cutbacks

Delta Air Lines Inc.'s pilots began voting on a union contract proposal that would cut their salaries by nearly a third, while the company announced it secured $500 million more in financing to help the ailing airline stave off bankruptcy. The proposed pilots' agreement, reached by union leaders Wednesday after 15 months of negotiations, includes $1 billion in wage concessions by Delta pilots, who are currently among the highest paid in the nation with salaries averaging between $100,000 and $300,000 a year.

The union's 7,000 pilots, casting their ballots over the phone and Internet, will continue voting the next 10 days. Results won't be tracked until the voting ends at noon on Nov. 11. A simple majority vote is needed to ratify the tentative agreement.

Associated Press

National Semi trims forecast

National Semiconductor Corp. slashed its revenue forecast for the current quarter, citing inventory and backlog adjustments from customers and distributors. The chip maker also said it has not seen improvement in orders that are placed for delivery this quarter.

National Semi said it now expects revenue of $445 million to $450 million for the fiscal second quarter ending Nov. 28, down from its previous estimate of $493 million to $504 million.

Dow Jones / Associated Press

Monarch apartments acquired

Hammer Ventures, a San Diego real estate investment firm, has purchased the Monarch at Camel Valley apartments for $83 million and plans to convert the 225-unit complex into condominiums. Owned and operated by Jon Hammer, the company plans to convert the units in early 2005. Hammer paid nearly $369,000 per unit for the property.

The three-story, gated development was built in 2000. It includes several one-and two-bedroom floor plans.

DoubleClick to explore options

DoubleClick Inc., the provider of Internet advertising services, has decided to explore strategic alternatives, including a possible sale. Analysts say the reason is in part that DoubleClick has underperformed its peers. A resurgent online ad market has boosted the fortunes of companies such as Yahoo Inc. and Google Inc. But DoubleClick has struggled to capitalize on the boom.

The news lifted shares of the New York-based company. The stock closed at $7.12, up 76 cents, or 12 percent, on heavy volume on the Nasdaq Stock Market. The stock is down from a year-high of $12.81 hit in April.

"In an environment where Internet advertising as a whole is growing 35 percent or more, to have a company that plays in that space but is not growing and in fact is declining – that is a relatively negative statement," said analyst Mark Mahaney with American Technology Research.

Wachovia completes acquisition

Wachovia Corp. said it has completed a $14.3 billion acquisition of SouthTrust Corp. to create the largest bank in the Southeast. The integration process is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2005. Wachovia has said it will eliminate some 4,300 jobs, partly through attrition, as part of the acquisition.